The 2023 CBC winter schedule doesn't have an Olympics interruption. The NHL is back to a normal mid-April conclusion as opposed to the end of April from 2022.
Comedies back from their sophomore years include the Mark Critch vehicle Son Of A Critch and Run The Burbs. Workin' Moms is back for its final season, Season 7. Pretty Hard Cases is back for Season 3 on Wednesdays.
Coroner is done as is Tallboyz. The sketch comedy show should have had another season, given that CBC had to fill the post Workin' Moms slot with a British and American show.
Season 8 of Still Standing has Jonny Harris off to new towns from Ucluelet and Gibsons, BC to Wabush, Newfoundland, and everywhere in between.
David Suzuki is back for his final season of The Nature Of Things (Season 62 overall). We'll have more down below on his replacements.
The CBC will run Canadian documentaries on Sunday nights under the name Hot Docs.
CBC Winter 2022
Monday
Murdoch Mysteries 8p
Around the World in 80 Days/Plan B 9p
Tuesday
This Hour Has 22 Minutes 8p
Son Of A Critch 8:30p
Workin' Moms 9p
Catastrophe/Casual 9:30p
Wednesday
Still Standing 8p
Run The Burbs 8:30p
Pretty Hard Cases 9p
Thursday
Bollywed/Canada's Ultimate Challenge 8p
The Fifth Estate/Trigger Point 9p
Friday
Marketplace 8p
Stuff The British Stole/Push 8:30p
The Nature of Things 9p
Saturday
Hockey Night in Canada 7p
Sunday
Heartland/Best in Miniature 7p
Hot Docs 8p
Essex County 9p
bold indicates new series; ital indicates new timeslot
CBC has officially announced Essex County as a 5-part, live action TV miniseries for March 2023! I’m showrunning and co-writing the series. Stay tuned for more details soon! https://t.co/aiAMkaIhZX
— Jeff Lemire (@JeffLemire) June 2, 2022
As for the new shows, Plan B has strong promise. Airing 6 episodes starting February 27, the English language version of the Radio-Canada French-language drama stars Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse (photo below). This is about second chances, not birth control.
Essex County is a 5-episode miniseries that follows the intertwining lives of two families living in a rural community. Molly Parker and Stephen McHattie are in the cast. The show debuts on March 19.
The rest of the new shows fall into the reality TV genre. Bollywed is a docu-series about the Singh family, operating the Chandan Fashion bridal shop in Toronto’s Little India for the last 37 years. Canada's Ultimate Challenge is a reality show where Canadians are mentored by superstar coaches Donovan Bailey, Waneek Horn-Miller, Clara Hughes, Gilmore Junio, Jen Kish, and Luke Willson. Stuff The British Stole is technically a CBC co-production with ABC out of Australia. Push is a factual series about “the Wheelie Peeps” in Edmonton. Best in Miniature is another reality show.
That is a lot of unscripted programming from the public broadcaster. Barry Hertz from The Globe and Mail adds his own thoughts, generally agreeing on the amount of reality TV in the schedule.
Lionsgate has a deal for U.S. and international distribution for Son of a Critch. but we haven't seen any sign of an actual deal. The initial episode showed great promise.
Season 7 of Workin' Moms will be the final season for the long-running CBC comedy. Hopefully, the U.S. audience won't have to wait too long to see the final season on Netflix. The first 6 seasons are available on CBC Gem (Canada) and Netflix (United States).
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage
The CBC released the titles for the documentaries on Sunday nights (director in parentheses):
- January 8 The Case Against Cosby (Karen Wookey)
- January 15 Doug and the Slugs and Me (Teresa Alfeld)
- January 22 Offside: The Harold Ballard Story (Jason Priestley)
- January 29 Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children (Barri Cohen)
- February 5 Dear Jackie (Henri Pardo)
Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children ran during the 2022 Windsor International Film Festival and has aired on the Documentary Channel in Canada. This is Jason Priestley's return to directing a full-length film since Cas & Dylan. Priestley also directed the rockumentary Barenaked in America as well as TV shows and TV movies.
These are only the films we know so far. Unlike British seat fillers, these are Canadian stories in Canada told by Canadians.
CanadianCrossing.com television coverage
CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage
Diggstown finished its 4 seasons on CBC this fall. Season 4 saw a shift to filming in Prince Edward Island where the show had been shot in Halifax in Nova Scotia. Variety has an extensive interview with Diggstown creator and showrunner Floyd Kane. One of the issues addressed in the interview was why the show didn't end up on Fox.
U.S. viewers can access the show through BET+. Canadians can watch via CBC Gem.
Mi'kmaw filmmaker Jeff Barnaby has passed away at 46
As it stands right now, our biggest native show was trickster, and they cancelled it because of one person. That show was rhymes for young ghouls light I could've taken it over with my eyes closed. But they didn't even try.
— Jeff Barnaby (@tripgore) December 16, 2021
We ran this quote for the 2022 CBC television winter preview. Barnaby would have done a tremendous rendition of a theoretical Season 2 of Trickster. Unfortunately, that won't happen, mostly because Barnaby passed away unexpectedly in mid-October at the young age of 46.
Season 1 of Trickster was one of the best TV experiences of 2021 for your humble narrator. Those stories need to be told.
Workin' Moms is a rare Canadian television show to get a Season 7
2022 CBC television upfront preview
The Nature of Things will have 2 co-hosts next winter, to replace David Suzuki. Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, daughter of David Suzuki, has a PhD in marine biology and has hosted episodes of The Nature of Things as well as programs for Audible and Ocean Networks Canada. Anthony Morgan has hosted science programs on such outlets as Discovery Channel, CBC, and Vice. Morgan is also the creative director of Science Everywhere, a science education startup and media company.
photos credit: Run The Burbs; Plan B/CBC; Hockey Night in Canada/Rogers Sportsnet (x2)
Twitter capture: @JeffLemire; @tripgore
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